TikTok’s tales of growth

Burger King hid a line in its general terms and conditions that offered a free Whopper to anyone it followed on TikTok. And it followed a single French account – @MASDAK, an expert on commercial loopholes that has 2.8 million followers. The promotion quickly snowballed, becoming one of the most commented on campaigns of 2023, according to TikTok. It shows how to offer people an exclusive social currency – a follow from a big brand – and demonstrates the value of mobilising a specific audience.

Canadian grocery delivery service Voilà created a tool that predicted the foods and recipes destined to trend on TikTok. In partnership with food creators, it redirected viewers to a Voilà cart that was prepopulated with ingredients, helping it to acquire 60–80 new users per week. It demonstrates how to convert TikTok hype into business success: Voilà recognised that viral recipes lead to spikes in grocery sales and positioned itself to benefit from this first-mover advantage.

To improve its brand perception among women, car manufacturer Ford partnered with actress Sydney Sweeney, who used a TikTok account to document her work on a 1969 Ford Bronco. Designed to encourage more women into mechanical engineering, the Auto 101 series saw Sweeney teach mechanical skills to viewers and boosted consideration among millennial women by 96%. It shows how an authentic influencer partnership can help to shift perceptions and shatter outdated brand stereotypes.

Australian period underwear brand Modibodi wanted to reach Gen Z. So, it launched a TikTok series featuring four housemates whose periods have synced. Set to a script with cultural references, a diverse cast and the look and feel of a TV drama, the series saw a 91.4% increase in brand engagement. It’s an example of how to harness established entertainment formats on new platforms.

Showing how to draw on the popularity of TikTok Challenges, Prime Video’s ‘Dubbing Factory’ invites French TikTok audiences to voiceover their favourite Amazon shows using the platform’s duet feature. One successful dubber, Philippe, then became an official artist for season 3 of popular Prime Video TV series The Boys. The work achieved a total reach of 12.3 million and 120,000 new followers for the brand.

This social media film features people underestimating Madison Tevlin, an actor with Down syndrome, before inviting viewers to reconsider their bias. It reached 150m views across platforms in one week, inspiring the TikTok community to share their initial prejudices. It’s an example of how participatory behaviours on TikTok can amplify marginalised voices.

After retired American Football League footballer and motor neurone disease (MND) spokesman Neale Daniher lost his voice to the condition, FightMND leveraged TikTok’s duet feature to invite Australians to dictate his speech on his behalf. The video became TikTok’s number one user-generated content that month, raising a record-breaking $19.8m for FightMND. This demonstrates how co-creation can amplify reach and give participants a personal connection to a cause.